The end of an era has happened as Netflix has shipped its last DVD for the service that has operated for over 25 years. Netflix announced in April that it would be winding down the service which saw the company rise to unimagined popularity and challenged, then dominated, the traditional video rental business which had existed for decades before it. While others may have followed after it, Netflix’s physical mail-based service reshaped an industry in a short span of time but as technology changed, so did its own business model when it began to focus on its streaming services. A timeline shows that Netflix has shipped over 5 billion discs as of 2023.
“There’s a reason we didn’t call the company ‘DVD-by-Mail.com’. The long-term business was streaming,” said CEO and cofounder Reed Hastings in 2017.
Per Netflix:
“In 1998, we delivered our first DVD. This morning, we shipped our last.
For 25 years, we redefined how people watched films and series at home, and shared the excitement as they opened their mailboxes to our iconic red envelopes. It’s the end of an era, but the DVD business built our foundation for the years to come – giving members unprecedented choice and control, a wide variety of titles to choose from and the freedom to watch as much as they want.
Today, we wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for watching.”
For those who just can let go, Netflix is offering a DVD Sleeping Bag featuring the iconic envelope theme for $50. Pre-orders are up and Netflix says they will ship in October.
“Netflix shipped its final DVD in the mail on September 29, 2023.. but the red envelope remains an enduring symbol of our love of entertainment. Tuck yourself in like a DVD with our envelope-inspired sleeping bag to celebrate.
Long Live The Red Envelope!”
Discussion (13 replies)
Join Discussion →It was the best of times...
I never even knew they sold DVDs. I guess it must have been US only.
When Netflix first came around, they were a DVD rental service only. Good gawd, that was a very long time ago.
Oh huh, I wonder if this was actually the case.
I didn't realize they were around since 1998, but I did have the DVD rental subscription back in 2005/2006 for a couple years before I started just streaming everything.
Same. I didn't hear about them until around the mid-2000s.
Don't think Blockbuster seen them coming either.
"the DVD service has shipped more than 5 billion discs across the U.S. — the only country in which it ever operated."
Source
I was a good service, i had 3 dvds at a time. Return one get the next one in queue . it was super rare to get scratched ones in my experience.
Oh wow, surprising!
Way back in the day my wife and I had a small business processing bulk mail orders for local businesses for their customers. I remember going to the post office and literally seeing a half dozen or more of those big rolling bins/carts filled with these DVD envelopes. It was kind of staggering to see every few days as they took over the loading docks.
My Plex library owes a lot to this service.
I honestly find it difficult to believe they were still doing it.
They started transitioning to streaming in 2007. That was 16 years ago now. By 2012, 11 years ago that transition was pretty much complete.
Who has been getting DVD's for the last 11 years?
I mean, I can't even imagine watching content that is below 1080p anymore, let alone something as low as 720x480.
DVD looked nice and sharp in the 90's when we all had tube TV's, but by modern standards, once scaled up it is positively bothersome to have to look at. At any time in the last ~15-20 years, I think I'd rather not watch something at all, than put up with 480p...
I remember getting the Lion King on DVD and comparing it to Laser Disk.
Man back in the early days of DVD/Laserdisk you could get some really cool finds accidentally published.